Although the field is still forming for Pennsylvania’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, chatter about the pivotal seat is well underway among politicos.
Due to Sen. Pat Toomey’s decision to not seek a third term, candidates on both sides of the aisle have already begun to line up, while some are still mulling a run for the important race.
Reader Poll: Who Should Democrats Nominate for U.S. Senate in 2022?
- Malcolm Kenyatta (38%)
- Conor Lamb (35%)
- John Fetterman (15%)
- Val Arkoosh (6%)
- Someone Else (2%)
- Sharif Street (1%)
- John McGuigan (1%)
- Alexandria Khalil (1%)
- Kevin Baumlin (0%)
Loading ...On the Democratic side, the race began early in 2020.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman announced an exploratory committee in January and formally joined the race in February. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Philadelphia) also joined the statewide contest shortly after Fetterman in February.
In April, state Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission for U.S. Senate and formally announced his exploratory committee, while Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh also launched her campaign.
Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Allegheny) is currently the lone member of the state’s congressional delegation who is reportedly mulling a run for the seat after Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Philadelphia), Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester), and Susan Wild (D-Lehigh) ruled out a run.
In addition to those elected officials, former Norristown Borough Council President John McGuigan, and Dr. Kevin Baumlin have also launched their campaigns for Senate. According to the FEC website, Brandaun Dean, Larry Johnson, Alexandria Khalil, Kyle Norton, and Alan Shank have also filed statements of candidacy for the Democratic primary.
Although the field is still in flux, one thing pundits across the commonwealth and country agree is that the seat is up for grabs.
Most recently, The Hill placed Pennsylvania atop their most likely to flip U.S. Senate seats in 2022.
For three months in a row, CNN has placed Pennsylvania’s seat as the most likely to flip parties in the 2022 election in it’s latest Top 10 rankings released on May 27.
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated Pennsylvania’s Senate race in 2022 as the lone Toss Up of the cycle in its initial ratings, the Cook Political Report listed Pennsylvania’s race as one of two states that are considered to be Toss Ups, and Inside Elections labels the Keystone State as a “Battleground” for the 2022 Senate election.
So we ask: Who Should Democrats nominate for U.S. Senate in 2022?
The poll will close at 12:00 PM on June 24.
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16 Responses
Fetterman is a sip shit. He grew up with a silver spoon up ez ass and tries to act like a working class guy. He has never actually worked a day in his life. Total homo.
LAMB
This poll is as scientific as adults who refuse to get vaccinated
Fundraising is the bottom line. Fetterman got that covered. He will win,
The D’s have many good prospective candidates. But in the forthcoming election, and many to come, the “‘best” candidate is going to be
• One with a western pa base,
• some appeal to I’s and R’s experiencing buyer’s remorse in the post Trump era (which is a small but growing group),
• And candidate charisma or what passes for charisma these days.
Winning must be the Democrats overriding objective, understanding clearly that Republicans will employ voter suppression tactics whenever possible. All these arguments point to a clear choice of Conner Lamb as the candidate. Moreover R’s can be relied upon to nominate a Trump aligned candidate which will quickly focus the general on Western Pa – and western PA despites its’s recent proclivities to support R candidates, still has a strong draw for “home town” candidates as Conner Lamb .All of these factors make Conner Lamb a compelling choice for the Democratic US Senate nominee in 2022
Fetterman has a Western PA base being from there and mayor. Not only that he’s also proven he can win statewide unlike Lamb. Fetterman appeals to the progressives in Philly and Pittsburgh plus appeals to the west with his economic populism. Lastly he is rather charismatic. Fetterman has everything it takes he’s a proven winner with crossover support and charisma.
I respectfully disagree. Fetterman won the 2018 Pa Lt. Gov Primary comfortably due to his appeal in Western PA and NE PA. However, what propelled him was that his opponents in that primary were quite flawed (Nina Ahmad and Mike Stack). The 2018 PA General Gov Election was then a landslide with Wolf leading the way, not Fetterman. Fetterman would not have had the margins that Wolf had had the ticket been flipped around. I, therefore, am uncomfortable saying that Fetterman ‘won’ a general election, as Wolf would have swept Wagner regardless of his running mate!
I do agree that Fetterman is a warrior and the perfect progressive, but he is certainly going to thin out against a Trump favorite like Sean Parnell. Lamb may not have won a statewide election yet, but he can win Trump voters with confidence (see District 17’s 2020 returns against Parnell), which will pull Parnell away from his own base. Parnell is running a strong campaign and amassing a war chest from the PA GOP and mega-donors. Fetterman is an outstanding fundraiser and social media giant himself, but his stances on health care, guns, and marijuana will not push him over the top with many PA moderates and independents (who are now the MOST IMPORTANT voters in PA). The primary may be close, but Lamb’s endorsements will shine through, and this Senate race NEEDS to be analyzed as a Trump-Biden rematch without the two themselves running!
You highly overestimate Connor Lamb’s appeal as a Democrat. He is in the most R leaning Dem district in the state. He’s not the candidate the rest of the states democrats want to see. He can ONLY carry Western Pa, Fetterman can carry it all, Kenyatta with the right campaign could do it too. But Connor Lamb is not the one.
How do you define charismatic?
Any of the Dems is better than any of GOP/GQP mob.
She is a total fraud. No substance.
John Fetterman is a warrior for issues people have been referring to as progressive — support for unions, raising the minimum wage, voter rights, equal rights under the law for the lgbtq community; no shame in progressive politics but these are issues i of fundamental fairness that almost all elected Democrsts support. His advocacy for legalizing marijuana has polled at or near 60% approval since 2018.
With an opposition party that’s moved so far the right, who does a “moderate” candidate appeal to? Instead of trying to find a middle ground, voters should nominate the candidate who appeals to to the left on the issues but also attracts the libertarian wing on the right. Fetterman is the man who meets the moment.
I prefer Malcolm Kenyatta. He’s black, gay and young. Plus a pro at virtue signaling…he checks all the boxes. That’s what matters most!!!
Me
Please no VAL ARKOOSH – She is In BET’s (Bruce Tool)back pocket and uses the Montgomery County Planning to further unpopular causes to benefit the “Boys”. Cannot take care of county roads but can dump big dollars into bike lanes on highways
I don’t know about the Democrats but the Republicans should bring back the disgraced, err, I mean the honorable Tim Murphy. He would be perfect as a Republican candidate. Mostly everything he says he doesn’t believe but he will tell everyone everything they want to hear. Here is a guy who made every pro-lifers top of the list. He doesn’t believe in abortion. Absolutely no exceptions except when your mistress needs one.
This is my kind of candidate.